Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1887-05-28


hot Il was, we were glad enough 10 keep near
the flro, because we found that the mosquitoes
did not like the smoke. Presently we rolled
ourselves up In our blankets and tried TO goto
Sleep but so far as WINS concerned tho bull
frogs and tho extraordinary roaring and
alarming sound produced by hundreds of
snipe lowering high In the air, made sleep an
impossibilty, to'say nothing Of our other dis
comforts. turned and looked at Loo, who
was next to mo; he was doing, but his face
had flushed appearance that did not like,
and by the Pickering freight saw Ustane.
who was lying on the other side OF him, raise
herself from time 10 time upon her elbow and
look at him nnxiously enough.
However, could do nothing for him, for
we had all already taken a good dose OF
quinine, which was the only preventive we
had; so lay and watched the stars come out
by thousands till all the immense arch of
heaven was sown with glittering points and
every point q world. Here was glorious
sight, by which man might well measure his
own insignlncancel Soon gave up thinking
about il, for the mind wearies easily when 1t
strives 70 grapple with the infinite, or to trace
the footsteps Of the Almighty as he strides
from spharc to sphere, or deduce his purpose
from his works.
Above me, as lay, shone the eternal stars,
and there at my feet the inpish marsh born
balls of fire rolled this way and that, vapor
tossed and earth desiring, and mothought
that in tho two saw type and image of
what man Is, and what perohancc man may
one day be, II the living forco that ordained
him and them should so ordain this also Oh,
that it might be ours TO rest year by year
upon that high level of the heart TO which at
times we momentarily attainl Oh, that we
could shake loose the prisoned pinions Of the
soul and soar 60 that superior point whence,
like to some traveller looking out through
space from Darien's giddiest peak, we might
gaze with the spirit eyes Of noble thoughts
deep into infnityi 4gt
What would 1t be to cast OF this earthly
robe, to have done forever with these earthly
thoughts and miserable desires; no longer,
like those corpse candles, to be tossed this
way and that by forces far beyond our con-
troll, or, if we can theoretically control them,
arc yet driven by the exigencies OF our ma
ture to obey! Yes, to cast them Off, to have
done with tho foul and thorny places Of the
world, and, like to those glittering points
above me, to sit on high wrapped forever in the
brightness Of our better selves, that even now
shines In us as fire family shines within those
lurid balls and lay down our lttleness in that
wide glory of our dreams, that invisible but
surrounding good from which all truth and
beauty comesl
These and many such thoughts passed
through my mind that night They come to
torment us all at times. say to torment, for
the helplessness Of thought. What is the use
of our feeble crying in the awful silence of
spacel Can our dim intelligence read tho
secrets OF that star strewn skye Docs any
answer come out of itl Never any at an;
nothing but echoes and fantastic visions.
| And yet we believe that there is an answer,
and that upon time a new dawn will come
blushing down the ways OF our enduring
night. We believe it, for its reflected beauty
even now shines up continually in our hearts
from beneath the horizon Of the grave, and
we call it hope Without hope we should
suffer moral death, and by che help Of hope
We may yet climb to heaven; or, at the worst
II she also prove but a kindly mockery giyer
| to hold us from despair, be gently lowered
into the abyssss of eternal sleep.
Then / fell to rejecting upon the undertak
ing on which we were bent, and what q wiiC
one IL was, and yet how strangely the story
seemed to ft in with what had been writer
centuries ago upon the sherd. Who was thi
extraordinary woman, queen over people
apparently as extraordinary as herself anC
reigning amidst the vestiges Of a lost civilza
tlonl And what could be the moaning Of thi
story of the fire that gave unending life
Could IL DO possible that any fluid or essenc
could exist that could 80 fortify these fleshl,
walls that they should from age TO age rests
the mines and gatherings Of decay 1t wa
possible, though not probable. The indeflnit
continuation of life would not, after all, b
half so marvellous thing as the production
of life and its temporary endurance. And
1t were true, what theni The person VIII
found it could no doubt rule the world. H
could accumulate all the wealth In the world
and all tho power, and all the wisdom that
power He might give lifetime to the stud
of each art or science Well, IL that were 81
and this she were practically immortal whicl
4 did mob for one moment believe, how was
that with all these things at her feet, she pre-
fsrred 30 remain in cave among societ,
of cannibalsl That surely settled tho ques
ton. The whole story was monstrous, am
n only worthy OF the superstitious days in whicl
II was written. At any rate was very sur
that would not attempt to attain unendin
life had had far too many worries an
disappeintments and secret bitternesses durin
my forty odd years Of existence to wish tina
this state Of affairs should be continued in
definitely. And yet suppose that my LII
has been, comparatively speaking, a happ
opa az M 8
And then, rejecting that at the pressn
moment there was far moro likelihood of on
earthly careers being cut exceedingly shor
sham Of their being unduly prolonged, a
last managed to get TO sleep, a fact for whic
anybody who reads this narrative, IL any
body ever does, may very probably be thank
full
Il When I woke again II was just dawning
and the guard and hearers wero moyin
about like ghosts through the dense mornin
mists, getting ready for our start The fir
had died quits down, and Irose and stretche-
myself, shivsring in every limb from tn
damp cold Of the dawn Then looked q
, Leo He was sitting up, holding his hands :
his head, and saw that his face was fiusbe
and his eye bright, and yet yellow around tn
pupil sl
swell, Leo" said, show do you fsell"
II feel as though l were going to die h
answered, hoarsely. My head issplitting, m
/, 4 4. .faI ',